Death of the Count
by dangerousdame
Summary: Dracula was human, but the horror he left behind was all too real. Alternate universe, implied sexual violence.


From the Diary of John Seward

My mind is in a haze- I cannot speak or even think clearly. I should not even make this entry, for it would serve as proof of guilt- but guilt of what? What have I done that should have been different? If we had protected Lucy- if we had even known she needed protection, that anyone could harm such a sweet and lovely creature- what could we have done to prevent this? All I know is that I must destroy this entry once I have committed it, but like Midas' servant I must speak my terrible secret to the fields or go mad with it.

A man is dead; a foreign Count, or so I'm told. I saw him speak to Lucy at Arthur's party, and my dislike of him was as irrational as it was instant. I had little enough cause to be jealous, for Lucy had already given her heart to another, and try as I might I can bear neither him nor her any ill will. Perhaps I saw cruelty in his eyes, or insult in the way he leaned close to her, but it is easy for me to say that now, in reflection. Hunger- that was the word that occurred to me. But the encounter was brief, and it was not until tonight that I thought on him again.

If I could have known then what might happen, I would have ripped his very heart out! Good god, I must sound like one of my own lunatics! Moreover, I am now horribly glad Mrs. Westenra is dead and cannot learn of what befell her daughter. Jonathan must be told when he returns from his voyage, but I wish it were not so. I know it will haunt me until the day I die, and though I wish to wipe the memory with morphine, I know also that I shall never touch the drug again. What if I were to speak out under its influence? If only my old professor could see me now, and know what it took to make me understand its dangers!

The sounds will haunt me as well as the sights, for that is how we first knew- when Arthur, Quincey and I approached the house, we could hear the faint but distinctive sound of weeping. It could not be told whether Mina or Lucy cried, but our attention went next to the door- far from being locked, it was slightly opened, showing signs of force. Arthur ran ahead of me and so was first to the dreadful scene in Lucy's room, with Quincey behind me. I do not know if they also knew what I did- if it was only I, with my time in medical school, who recognized the scent of blood.

Blood was what we saw when we reached the room. God! Blood stained the bedsheets, Lucy's nightgown, Mina's hands, and the man on the floor still dripped red! Arthur rushed to Lucy's side while I stared in mute horror, almost clinically putting the pieces together. Lucy had been stuck first while still in the bed, and the man second, mortally. For the first time since I was a student I thought I might faint, and I only barely registered the scissors Quincy was gently prying from Mina's hand.

He tried to ask her what had happened, but she could not manage to make a sound. Mina, the level-headed and studious girl, had been reduced to tears and trembling. It was Lucy who finally spoke, her beautiful voice reduced to a whisper.

"I tried to fight, I tried to cry out! Only Mina was with me, and what could she do? Oh Arthur!" He held her close and she continued through tears. "He said I had insulted him! I would not let him in, and he pushed against the door until it broke. I swear, I gave him no cause, no cause...I could not break free of his grasp, when I tried to cry for help he put his hand about my throat. I thought he would kill me- prayed he would only kill me!"

Now it was Lucy who could not continue, and Mina who had stopped shaking. Arthur whispered something, but so softly I could not hear. I barely felt that I was in the room at all, but that was watching through the eyes of another. Perhaps Mina felt the same, for her voice was as distant as her gaze.

"I'd been in the garden. I heard a struggle, and when looked in the bedroom I saw- I saw him hold her down, and I saw the blood. I remember seeing the scissors on the dresser, and I remember flying at him...I made him stop."

It was now that I could hear Arthur's words to Lucy more clearly. He was saying he loved her and promising to marry her, over and over until she returned his embrace. I could also hear another voice, and I only dimly recognized it as mine.

"What shall we do?"

What could we do? What could we do without destroying poor Lucy, who had suffered as no woman should ever suffer? What could we do without destroying Mina, who had done what any of us would have? What could we do without destroying ourselves?

It was then that Quincy stood and said the sentence that will bind us all, for good or for ill, the rest of our days.

"We bury him."


End file.
